Transceiver device, access control devices, a transmitter device and a receiver device

ABSTRACT

A transceiver device includes a time of flight circuit configured to emit a modulated light transmit signal and to receive a modulated light receive signal. The transceiver device includes a control module configured to control a transmission of a modulated light transmit signal by the time of flight circuit to an access control device. The modulated light transmit signal includes information related to a transmission access request. The control module is further configured to control an establishment of a wireless transmission channel based on a modulated light receive signal received by the time of flight circuit from the access control device. The modulated light receive signal includes information for establishing the wireless transmission channel.

FIELD

Embodiments relate to pairing and authenticating wireless devices and inparticular to a transceiver device, access control devices, atransmitter device and a receiver device.

BACKGROUND

Wired and wireless communication networks may implement pairing andauthentication procedures. A pairing procedure may be carried outbetween a host device and a peripheral device in order to integrate theperipheral device into the network, for example. The pairing proceduresmay be cumbersome due to the required knowledge of networkidentification numbers, login information and passwords, for example.Furthermore, pairing and authentication procedures may be subject tomiddleman security attacks, for example.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments relate to a transceiver device. The transceiver deviceincludes a time of flight circuit configured to emit a modulated lighttransmit signal and to receive a modulated light receive signal. Thetransceiver device includes a control module configured to control atransmission of a modulated light transmit signal by the time of flightcircuit to an access control device. The modulated light transmit signalincludes information related to a transmission access request. Thecontrol module is further configured to control an establishment of awireless transmission channel based on a modulated light receive signalreceived by the time of flight circuit from the access control device.The modulated light receive signal includes information for establishingthe wireless transmission channel.

Some embodiments relate to an access control device. The access controldevice includes a time of flight circuit configured to receive amodulated light receive signal from a peripheral device. The modulatedlight receive signal includes information related to a transmissionaccess request. The access control device includes a control moduleconfigured to control a transmission of a modulated light transmitsignal by the time of flight circuit. The modulated light transmitsignal includes information for establishing a transmission channelbetween the access control device and the peripheral device.

Some embodiments relate to an access control device. The access controldevice includes a time of flight circuit configured to determinedistance information of a distance between the access control device anda peripheral device, or to receive a modulated light receive signalincluding distance information related to a distance between the accesscontrol device and the peripheral device. The access control devicefurther includes a control module configured to allow establishing atransmission channel between the access control device and theperipheral device based on the distance information.

Some embodiments relate to a transmitter device. The transmitter deviceincludes a control module configured to control a transmission of amodulated light transmit signal by a time of flight emitter circuit. Themodulated light transmit signal includes load data to be transmitted.

Some embodiments relate to a receiver device. The receiver deviceincludes a time of flight module configured to receive a modulated lightreceive signal including load data. The receiver device further includesa processing module configured to generate a data signal including theload data based on the modulated light receive signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of apparatuses and/or methods will be described in thefollowing by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanyingfigures, in which

FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a transceiver device;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of an access control device;

FIGS. 3A to 3C show schematic illustrations of a time of flight-basedpairing and authentication process between an access control device anda peripheral device;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic illustration of an access control deviceincluding a time of flight circuit;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic illustration of a transmitter device;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic illustration of a receiver device;

FIG. 7 shows a flow chart of a method for establishing a wirelesstransmission channel by a transceiver device; and

FIG. 8 shows a flow chart of a method for establishing a wirelesstransmission channel by a receiver device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various example embodiments will now be described more fully withreference to the accompanying drawings in which some example embodimentsare illustrated. In the figures, the thicknesses of lines, layers and/orregions may be exaggerated for clarity.

Accordingly, while example embodiments are capable of variousmodifications and alternative forms, embodiments thereof are shown byway of example in the figures and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit exampleembodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary,example embodiments are to cover all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure. Like numbersrefer to like or similar elements throughout the description of thefigures.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyconnected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are nointervening elements present. Other words used to describe therelationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion(e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directlyadjacent,” etc.).

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exampleembodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and/or “including,” when usedherein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps,operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presenceor addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. Itwill be further understood that terms, e.g., those defined in commonlyused dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a transceiver device 110according to an embodiment.

The transceiver device 110 includes a time of flight circuit 101configured to emit a modulated light transmit signal 102 and to receivea modulated light receive signal 103.

The transceiver device 110 includes a control module 104 configured tocontrol a transmission of a modulated light transmit signal 102 by thetime of flight circuit 101 to an access control device 120. Themodulated light transmit signal 102 includes information related to atransmission access request.

The control module 104 is further configured to control an establishmentof a wireless transmission channel 106 based on a modulated lightreceive signal 103 received by the time of flight circuit 101 from theaccess control device 120. The modulated light receive signal 103includes information for establishing the wireless transmission channel.

Due to the time of flight (TOF) modulated light transmit signal beingused for a transmission access request and the TOF modulated lightreceive signal being used for establishing a wireless transmissionchannel, pairing and authentication between the transceiver device andan access control device may be improved. For example, pairing can becarried out over longer distances (in comparison to short range pairingmethods such as near field communication NFC pairing). Furthermore,errors associated with the manual pairing of devices may be reduced oravoided, for example.

The time of flight (TOF) circuit 101 may include one or more TOF circuitcomponents for emitting the modulated light transmit signal 102 and forreceiving the modulated light receive signal 103. For example, the TOFcircuit 101 may include a TOF emitter circuit including one or morelight emitters or illumination sources (e.g. light emitting diodes LEDsor lasers) configured to emit the modulated light transmit signal (e.g.modulated infra-red light). The TOF emitter circuit may be configured toemit the modulated light transmit signal 102 at a controlled modulationfrequency which may be greater than 1 MHz, or greater than hundreds ofMHz, e.g. between 1 MHz to 500 MHz or e.g. between 1 MHz to about 200MHz or e.g. between 60 MHz to 100 MHz.

The TOF circuit 101 may further include a TOF sensor pixel circuitincluding an array (e.g. a two-dimensional 2D array) of sensor pixelsconfigured to receive the modulated light receive signal. Each TOFsensor pixel may include a photonic mixing device (PMD) includingtransparent charge collectors or photogates for receiving the modulatedlight receive signal, for example. The PMD sensor pixels may be used forreceiving the modulated light receive signal 103 which may include loaddata information (modulated data) for establishing a wirelesstransmission channel 106, for example.

The TOF circuit 101 may be part of a TOF camera circuit for generatingimages. For example, the TOF circuit 101 may be configured to determinedepth or distance information between the transceiver device 110 and anobject, and/or to generate a three-dimensional (3D) image of the objecthaving depth or distance information based on TOF measurements by theTOF circuit.

The modulated light transmit signal 102 and the modulated light receivesignal 103 may be infra-red light signals or visible light signalstransmitted or received by the TOF circuit 101. For example, a modulatedlight transmit signal may be pulse modulated at the controlledmodulation frequency (e.g. controlled by the control module 104 or theTOF circuit). Furthermore, the modulated light transmit signals andmodulated light receive signals (e.g. 102, 103) transmitted to and fromthe peripheral device 110 and the access control device 120 may includeload data (e.g. may be modulated with loaded data information) to betransmitted to and from the transceiver device 110 and the accesscontrol device 120. The modulated light signals to be transmitted orreceived (e.g. 102, 103) may be phase-shift key (PSK) modulated with theload data information (e.g. with the transmission access requestinformation, or with information for establishing the wirelesstransmission channel), for example.

The modulated light transmit signal 102 transmitted by the TOF circuit101 to the access control device 120 may include information related toa transmission access request. The transmission access request may be a(pairing) request by the transceiver device to be paired to or toreceive authentication information from the access control device, sothat the transceiver device may communicate or connect wirelessly to thecommunication network via the wireless access point of the accesscontrol device. For example, this transmission access request mayinclude a request for the transceiver device to receive networkparameters for configuring a wireless connection module of thetransceiver device 110 to be able to communicate wireless over acommunication network to which the access control device 120 isconnected via a wireless transmission channel 106. The modulated lighttransmit signal 102 carrying the transmission access request may furtherinclude identifier information related to the peripheral device, such asan identifier name or number or product type related to the transceiverdevice 100, for example.

The modulated light receive signal 103 received by the TOF circuit 101(from the access control device 120) may include information forestablishing the wireless transmission channel 106 between the accesscontrol device 120 and the transceiver device 110. The information forestablishing the wireless transmission channel 106 may include a networkidentification number, network configuration information, a networklogin identifier or a network speed, for example. In other words, themodulated light receive signal 103 may include at least onecommunication parameter (e.g. a network identification number, networkconfiguration information, a network login identifier or a networkspeed) for a pairing or authentication between the transceiver device110 and the access control device 120.

The transceiver device 110 may further include a security moduleconfigured to encrypt or decrypt the information included in themodulated light transmit signal or the modulated light receive signal.The security module may further be configured for key management such asfor the generation and/or storage of cryptographic keys which may beused with the modulated light transmit signal and/or the modulated lightreceive signal and/or other on-chip signals to improve robustnessagainst error attacks or security attacks.

The control module 104 may include circuitry or computer executableinstructions for controlling the transmission of the modulated lighttransmit signal 102. For example, the control module 104 may includecircuitry or computer executable instructions for encoding (e.g. usingPSK modulation) the modulated light transmit signal with load data (e.g.with transmission access request information, distance informationand/or identifier information). Furthermore, the control module 104 maybe configured to control an encryption of load data information carriedon the modulated light transmit signal by a security control modulebefore transmitting the light transmit signal, for example.

The control module 104 may include circuitry or computer executableinstructions for controlling the receiving of a modulated light receivesignal. For example, the control module may include circuitry orcomputer executable instructions for decoding a modulated light receivesignal carrying load data information. Furthermore, the control module104 may be configured to control a decryption of load data informationcarried on the modulated light receive signal and received by the TOFcircuit 101. For example, the control module 104 may be configured toproduce a data signal including the one or more communication parametersbased on the modulated light receive signal 103.

The control module 104 may be configured to configure the wirelesscommunication module for the transmission of data via the wirelesstransmission channel 106, and to establish the transmission channelbetween the transceiver device 110 and the access control device 120based on the at least one communication parameter. For example, thecontrol module 104 may include circuitry or computer executableinstructions for transmitting the one or more communication parametersto the wireless control module based on the information for establishingthe wireless transmission channel. The control module 104 may further beconfigured to configure the wireless communication module based on orusing the one or more communication parameters. Optionally,alternatively or additionally, the control module 104 may be configuredto transmit the one or more communication parameters to a display to bedisplayed to a user of the transceiver device 110, where one or more ofthe communication parameters for configuring the wireless communicationmodule may be keyed in by the user via an input interface (e.g. a keyboard, touch screen or voice input interface) of the transceiver device110.

The transceiver device 110, the control module 104, the time of flightcircuit 101, the security module, the wireless communication moduleand/or other optional modules may be independent hardware units or partof a computer, a digital signal processor or a microcontroller or may bepart of a computer program or software product configured to run on acomputer, a digital signal processor or a microcontroller, for example.The transceiver device 110, the control module 104, the time of flightcircuit 101, the security module, the wireless communication moduleand/or other optional components may be implemented independently fromeach other or may be realized at least partly together (e.g. on the samedie). For example, the transceiver device 110, the control module 104,the time of flight circuit 101, the security module, the wirelesscommunication module and/or other optional modules may be implemented orformed on a common semiconductor die.

The transceiver device 110 may further be configured to initiate anauthentication process based on the one or more communication parameters(e.g. the network identification, login and/or password information).The transceiver device 110 may be configured to submit one or more ofthe communication parameters as authentication parameters using anauthentication protocol via the wireless communication module, forexample.

Once the transceiver device 110 is authenticated by the access controldevice 120, the transceiver device 110 may then be allowed to access thewireless communication network via the wireless transmission channel.

The transceiver device 110 may further include a transmitter and/orreceiver circuit used in wireless or mobile communications systems. Thetransceiver device 110 may be implemented in at least one of a mobiledevice (e.g. a cell phone or a smart phone), a tablet device (e.g. atouch screen device), a time of flight camera, a personal computer andan all in one computer, for example. In other examples, the transceiverdevice 110 may be implemented in or may correspond to a smartphone, UserEquipment (UE), a laptop, a notebook, a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA), a Universal Serial Bus (USB) stick, a tablet computer, or a car.

The access control device 120 to which the light transmit signal 102(and/or further light transmit signals) is transmitted, may be a devicewhich includes or provides a wireless access point to a communicationnetwork or which provides a communication channel for communicating witha device or network of computers, for example. The communication networkmay be a local area wireless network based on a communications protocolas defined by the Microwave Access (WIMAX) IEEE 802.16 or Wireless LocalArea Network (WLAN) IEEE 802.11, for example. In other examples, thecommunications protocol may be a bluetooth communication protocol, a6LoWPAN (IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks)communication protocol or a Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4) communicationprotocol. The access control device 120 may be implemented in at leastone of a base station, a time of flight camera, a modem, a router, amultimedia station, and a printer, for example.

The transceiver device 110 may include a wireless communication modulefor establishing the wireless transmission channel between the accesscontrol device 120 and the transceiver device 110. The wirelesscommunication module may be a wireless adaptor, for example. Thewireless transmission channel 106 may be configured to receive and/ortransmit radio frequency wireless signals to and from the local areawireless network. The wireless transmission channel 106 may have afrequency bandwidth (e.g. a radio frequency bandwidth) within theselected frequency bandwidth in accordance with the wirelesscommunication network. The wireless transmission channel 106 may beestablished between the wireless communication module of the transceiverdevice 110 and a wireless communication module of the access controldevice 120 after the one or more communication parameters have been usedby the control module 104 for configuring the wireless communicationmodule of the transceiver device 110. Once the wireless transmissionchannel has been established, data may be transmitted or exchangedbetween the transceiver device 110 and the access control device 120 viathe wireless transmission channel, for example.

The time of flight circuit 101 may be configured to determine distanceinformation related to a distance between the transceiver device 110 andthe access control device 120. In some examples, the transceiver device110 may be configured to transmit distance information related to orabout the distance between the access control device 120 and thetransceiver device 110 to the access control device 120. Thetransmission of the distance information may also be carried out via alight transmit signal such as light transmit signal 102 or via a furtherlight transmit signal, by modulating load data in the light transmitsignal, for example.

The access control device may transmit the information for establishingthe transmission channel based on the distance information related to adistance between the transceiver device 110 and the access controldevice 120. In other words, the distance information may be used by theaccess control device 120 to determine whether the access control device120 transmits information for establishing the wireless communicationchannel to the transceiver device 110, for example. For example, theaccess control device 120 may be configured to allow an establishment ofa transmission channel between the access control device 120 and theperipheral device 110 based on whether distance between the accesscontrol device and a peripheral device 110 exceeds or falls below athreshold distance value.

In some examples, the TOF circuit 101 may be configured to determine thedistance information by carrying out a TOF measurement. Each TOF sensorpixel of the TOF sensor pixel circuit may include a photonic mixingdevice (PMD) including transparent charge collectors or photogatesworking in alternating bias.

The TOF emitter circuit may be configured to generate a plurality oflight pulses, e.g. infra-red or visible light, at the controlledmodulation frequency. Reflected light pulses (reflected by the accesscontrol device 120) having the modulations frequency may be received bythe TOF sensor circuit (e.g. the TOF PMD sensor pixels) which may eachmeasure the phase delay (or phase shift) of the reflected received lightsignal with respect to a reference modulation signal (e.g. a modulationcontrol signal or the transmitted light signal). The alternatinglybiased photogates (which may be biased at the modulations frequency) mayalternatingly receive the light pulses modulated at the same frequencyThe difference in the electrical signal output from the first photogateand the second photogate may be directly dependent on the phase delaybetween the received light signal and the reference modulation signaland may be represented by a correlation function, for example.

The distance between the access control device 120 and the transceiverdevice 110 may be determined based on the correlation functionrepresenting a phase delay between the received light signal and thereference modulation signal, for example. The receive light signal maybe emitted by the TOF emitter circuit of the TOF circuit 101, reflectedby the access control device 120 and received by a time of flight pixelsensor circuit, for example.

The transceiver device 110 may be configured to select a communicationsprotocol to be used for the wireless transmission based on the distanceinformation. For example, the control module 104 may be configured toselect a first communication protocol of the wireless transmissionchannel based on a first threshold distance (e.g. based on whether thedistance between the access control device and the transceiver deviceexceeds or falls below the first threshold distance value), and toselect a second communication protocol based on second thresholddistance (e.g. based on whether the distance between the access controldevice and the transceiver device exceeds or falls below the secondthreshold distance value). For example, if a distance between thetransceiver device 110 and the access control device 120 is less than 3m, the control module may be configured to select a first communicationprotocol (e.g. a Bluetooth, 6loWPAN or Zigbee protocol) of the wirelesstransmission channel. If a distance between the transceiver device 110and the access control device 120 is greater than 10 m, the controlmodule may be configured to select a different second communicationprotocol (e.g. WiFi protocol).

Due to the use of TOF techniques for pairing and authentication, pairingmay be performed over several meters. Thus, a host device may be mountedin a safe and secure (not easily manipulated or disturbed) position,several meters (e.g. between 1 m and 50 m, or e.g. between 2 m and 10 m,or e.g. 3 m to 5 m) away from the peripheral device. Due to the TOFtechnique and its range detection, pairing may be limited to a certaindistance or area. In an example, all pairing requests are omitted thatoriginate from peripheral devices that are farther away than 3 meters.

The TOF technique may also include the compensation of daylight andbackground illumination (e.g. suppression of background illumination).Thus, pairings may be carried out under harsh lighting conditions. Aslight is used as a data transfer medium, pairing may be performed inharsh industrial environments where RF data transfer (e.g., used by NFC)would be subjected to interference. Furthermore, the risk of aman-in-the-middle attack is minimized as a third party may not only needto be able to intercept the optical channel (which is principally verydifficult) but may also need to do the data processing in real timewhich may be additionally challenging as authentication and imageprocessing are computationally intensive operations.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of an access control device 220according to an embodiment.

The access control device 220 includes a time of flight circuit 211configured to receive a modulated light receive signal 202 from aperipheral device 210. The modulated light receive signal includesinformation related to a transmission access request.

The access control device 220 further includes a control module 214configured to control a transmission of a modulated light transmitsignal 203 by the time of flight circuit 211. The modulated lighttransmit signal 203 includes information for establishing a transmissionchannel between the access control device 220 and the peripheral device210.

Due to the time of flight (TOF) modulated light receive signal beingused for receiving a transmission access request and the TOF modulatedlight transmit signal being used for transmitting information forestablishing a transmission channel, pairing and authentication betweenthe peripheral device and an access control device may be improved. Forexample, pairing may be carried out over longer distances (in comparisonto short range pairing methods). Furthermore, communication networkparameters may be easily transmitted by the access control device to theperipheral device 210 and errors associated with the manual pairing ofdevices may be reduced or avoided, for example.

The access control device 220 (which may include one or more or all thefeatures described with respect to the access control device describedin FIG. 1) may be a device which includes or provides a wireless accesspoint to a wireless communication network. For example, the accesscontrol device 220 may include a wireless communication module 208 fortransmitting or receiving wireless signals through the wirelesstransmission channel to be established.

The time of flight (TOF) circuit 211 of the access control device 220may include circuitry or circuit components similar to the TOF circuit101 of the transceiver device of FIG. 1. For example, the TOF circuit211 may include a TOF emitter circuit for transmitting a modulated lighttransmit signal (carrying modulated information for establishing thetransmission channel) and a TOF pixel sensor circuit for receiving amodulated light receive signal (carrying modulated information relatedto a transmission access request).

The TOF circuit 211 of the access control device 220 may also beconfigured to determine distance information related to a distancebetween the access control device 220 and the peripheral device 210and/or other objects, for example. This may be carried out using a TOFprocedure or distance measurement as described with respect to FIG. 1,for example.

The peripheral device 210 may include one or more or all of the featuresalready described with respect to the transceiver device of FIG. 1. Forexample, the peripheral device 210 may include aTOF circuit, a wirelesscommunication module, and a control module.

The modulated light receive signal 202 may be a signal transmitted bythe peripheral device 210 and received by the access control device 220,for example. In some examples, the modulated light receive signal 202may include information related to the transmission access request andidentifier information related to the peripheral device, such as anidentifier name or number or product type related to the peripheraldevice. Additionally or optionally, the modulated light receive signal202 may include distance information related to a distance between theaccess control device 220 and the peripheral device 210. For example,this may include distance information obtained by a TOF distancemeasurement carried out by the peripheral device 210, where the distanceinformation is related to a distance between the peripheral device 210and the access control device 220, for example.

The control module 214 may be configured to allow an establishment of atransmission channel between the access control device 220 and theperipheral device 210 based on whether distance between the accesscontrol device and a peripheral device 210 exceeds or falls below athreshold distance value. For example, the control module 214 may beconfigured to control the TOF circuit 211 so that the TOF circuit 211transmits the modulated light transmit signal (which may include orcarry the communication parameters or information for establishing thetransmission channel 106) if the distance information indicates that thedistance between the access control device 220 and the peripheral device210 lies within a predefined distance range. Similarly, the controlmodule 214 may be configured to control the TOF circuit 211 so that theTOF circuit 211 does not transmit the modulated light transmit signal ifthe distance information indicates that the distance between the accesscontrol device 220 and the peripheral device 210 does not fall withinthe predefined distance range.

A predefined distance range may be a selected by a user or manager ofthe access control device or may be a predefined distance pre-stored inthe access control device, for example. For example, public spaces suchas airports may offer access to the wireless communication network toowners of peripheral devices (e.g. mobile communication devices) via theaccess control device. However, owners or managers of the access controldevice may desire that access to the wireless communication network maybe possible only within a predetermined space or area, e.g. within acafeteria. Possible predefined distance ranges may depend on thepreference of the owner, and also on the acceptable power consumptionand/or cost constraints related to the strength of the light sources,for example. Very small (TOF) cameras may provide distance ranges ofabout 1 m, whereas more powerful cameras may allow up to 50 m range.Possible predefined distance ranges may lie between 1 m and 50 m, ore.g. between 2 m and 10 m, or e.g. 3 m to 5 m, for example, but are notlimited to these values.

The control module 214 of the access control device 220 may also beconfigured to select a first communication protocol for the wirelesstransmission based on a first threshold distance (e.g. based on whetherthe distance between the access control device and the transceiverdevice exceeds or falls below the first threshold distance value), andto select a second communication protocol based on second thresholddistance (e.g. based on whether the distance between the access controldevice and the transceiver device exceeds or falls below the secondthreshold distance value).

The control module 214 of the access control device 220 may also beconfigured to control the time of flight circuit 211 to transmit themodulated light transmit signal based on the identifier informationrelated to the peripheral device 210. For example, a peripheral devicewith the same or duplicate identifier information (e.g. same identityname), or some product types may be prevented from establishing atransmission channel with the access control device.

Once the one or more communication parameters have be transmitted to theperipheral device 210, the peripheral device 210 may log on to use thewireless communication work via the wireless transmission channel byconfiguring its own wireless communication module based on the one ormore communication parameters. The wireless communication module (or thecontrol module 214) of the access control device 210 may further beconfigured to authenticate the peripheral device 210 to use the wirelesscommunication network based on the configured wireless communicationmodule of the peripheral device 210.

The access control device 220 may further include a security moduleconfigured to encrypt or a decrypt the load data information modulatedor carried on the modulated light transmit signal or the modulated lightreceive signal.

The access control device 220, the time of flight circuit 211, thecontrol module 214, the wireless communication module and the securitymodule of the access control device and/or other optional modules may beindependent hardware units or part of a computer, a digital signalprocessor or a microcontroller or may be part of a computer program orsoftware product configured to run on a computer, a digital signalprocessor or a microcontroller, for example. The access control device220, the time of flight circuit 211, the control module 214, thewireless communication module and the security module of the accesscontrol device and/or other optional components may be implementedindependently from each other or may be realized at least partlytogether (e.g. on the same die). For example, the access control device220, the time of flight circuit 211, the control module 214, thewireless communication module and the security module of the accesscontrol device may be implemented or formed on a common semiconductordie.

More details and aspects are mentioned in connection with theembodiments described above or below (e.g. regarding the transceiverdevice, the time of flight circuit, the modulated light transmit signal,the modulated light receive signal, the control module, the informationrelated to a transmission access request, the wireless transmissionchannel, the information for establishing the wireless transmissionchannel, the wireless control module, and the security module). Theembodiment shown in FIG. 2 may comprise one or more optional additionalfeatures corresponding to one or more aspects mentioned in connectionwith the proposed concept or one or more embodiments described above(e.g. FIG. 1) or below (e.g. FIGS. 3 to 8).

FIGS. 3A to 3C show schematic illustrations of a time of flight-basedpairing and/or authentication process between an access control device320 and a peripheral device 310 according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3A shows a TOF-based pairing and authentication procedure 300. Theperipheral device 310 (which may be similar to the peripheral deviceand/or transceiver device described in FIGS. 1 and 2) may send pairingand authentication requests to the host device via the TOF technique(e.g. by a TOF circuit of the peripheral device 310 emitting a modulatedlight transmit signal). The host device 320 (which may be similar to theaccess control device described in FIGS. 1 and 2) may provide a wirelessaccess point to a communication network and may evaluate these requestsand the distance (measured by the host device's TOF circuit or theperipheral device's TOF circuit). If an authentication is carried outsuccessfully, the host device 320 may submit the (communication) networkparameters to the peripheral device 310, for example. The peripheraldevice 310 may then apply the received (communication) networkparameters to its wireless network configuration (e.g. to the wirelesscommunication module) and may then be able to communicate over thenetwork.

Both the host device 320 and the peripheral device 310 may implement (orbe implemented with) a TOF camera system. The TOF based camera systemsmay be capable of sending and receiving data (to and from other TOFcameras, and to measure the distance between itself and a target objectby means of modulation. Depending on the illumination device (e.g. laseror LED) used in the TOF system, data may be exchanged over severalmeters and in a focused manner, for example.

In an example a TOF-based pairing procedure, a TOF-based pairingprocedure may be initiated with an access point (and a peripheraldevice) over several meters.

The host device 320 (e.g. a WiFi host device) may be equipped with a TOFcamera. (The host device 320 may be placed or located on a wall or in alocation out of reach from a user 312, for example). The peripheraldevice 310 may also be equipped with a TOF camera.

The user 312 may aim the TOF camera (e.g. the TOF emitter circuit andthe TOF receiver circuit) of the peripheral device 310 towards the hostdevice's TOF camera. The user 312 may trigger a transmission of apairing request (e.g. carried on the light transmit signal 102) to thehost device. For example, after the user presses a “pairing button”, theperipheral device 310 may send the pairing request (e.g. thetransmission access request) to the host device 320.

In some examples, the peripheral device 310 may be configured to carryout a TOF distance measurement between the peripheral device 310 and theaccess control device 320 before transmission of the of the transmissionaccess request by transmitting and measuring a reflected modulated lightsignal. Optionally, the peripheral device 310 may be configured to carryout the TOF distance measurement by measuring the reflected modulatedlight signal of the light transmit signal carrying the transmissionaccess pairing request information, the reflected modulated light signalbeing transmitted by the peripheral device 310, reflected by the hostdevice 320 and received by the peripheral device 310.

The host device 320 may answer the pairing request by providing thenecessary communication network parameters (e.g. network identification,login and/or password information) to the peripheral device 310 (forestablishing the transmission channel). The communication networkparameters may be carried or modulated onto a modulated light signaltransmitted by the host device 320 to the peripheral device 310.

The peripheral device 310 (after receiving the communication networkparameters carried by a modulated light signal) may set the receivedparameters (in the wireless control module) and log into the WiFicommunication network. In some examples, the received parameters may beused for configuring the wireless communication module by manuallyentering the communication network parameters into an input interfacecoupled to the wireless communication module. Additionally oralternatively, the communication network parameters received by the TOFcircuit may be automatically transmitted (from the control module or aprocessing module) to the wireless communication module for configuringthe wireless communication module. The TOF based communication channelmay be used to authenticate the client, (e.g. based on the enteredcommunication network parameters).

Once the peripheral device has been authenticated by the access controldevice, wireless data transfer may be carried out with the communicationnetwork.

In addition to being used for pairing and authentication forestablishing the transmission channel, the TOF camera (e.g. thecomponents of the TOF circuits 101 and 201) of the peripheral device andthe access control device may also be used for generating TOF images(e.g. 3D depth images or objects) based on modulated transmitted lightand reflected modulated light modulated received by the TOF camera. The3D depth images may be generated based on distance information relatedto a distance between an object to be photographed and the peripheraldevice (by TOF measurements), for example. In this way, no additionalinfra-red emitter or sensor may be needed for pairing and authenticationin addition to a TOF camera used for generating images, for example.

FIG. 3B shows a schematic illustration 350 of a host device andperipheral device implementing time of flight systems in order toperform pairing and authentication tasks.

The host device 320 (e.g. the access control device 220) may include aTOF system (e.g. a TOF circuit 211), which may include a TOF lightemitter circuit 315 (e.g. one or more LEDs or a laser for emittinginfra-red light). The host device 320 may further include a controlmodule 214, which may be coupled to or may be part of the TOF circuit211. The host device 320 may include the wireless controller module 208,which may be configured to provide a wireless transmission channel 106(e.g. a wireless hotspot) for wireless communication to a communicationnetwork.

The peripheral device 310 (e.g. similar to the transceiver/peripheraldevice of FIGS. 1 and 2) may include a TOF system (e.g. a TOF circuit101), which may include a TOF light emitter circuit 305 (e.g. one ormore LEDs or a laser for emitting infra-red light). The peripheraldevice 310 may further include a control module 104, which may becoupled to or may be part of the TOF circuit 101. The peripheral device310 may include a wireless controller module 307 (e.g. a wirelessadaptor), which when configured with communication parameters (networkidentification, login and/or password information) received from thehost device, may be configured to communicate wireless with thecommunication network via the wireless transmission channel 106 once aTOF-based pairing procedure has been initiated.

In some examples, one of the host device 320 and the peripheral device310 is implemented with the TOF emitter circuit (e.g. the light sources)and the other one of the host device 320 and the peripheral device 310is implemented with the TOF sensor circuit. The device implemented withthe TOF emitter circuit (e.g. the host device 320) may be configured totransmit a modulated (TOF) light transmit signal in the direction of thedevice implemented with the TOF sensor circuit (e.g. the peripheraldevice 310). The device implemented with the TOF emitter circuit mayalso be configured to transmit information related to the referencemodulation signal (e.g. a modulation control signal) to the deviceimplemented with the TOF sensor circuit, e.g. via any othercommunication channels. The device implemented with the TOF sensorcircuit may receive the modulated light transmit signal and determinedistance information based on the received modulated light transmitsignal and the reference modulation signal, for example.

In an example, only the host device 320 comprises the light sources 315and only the peripheral device 310 has the sensor 104. Pairinginformation may be transferred from the host device 320 to theperipheral device 310. The peripheral device 310 may still be able todetermine or calculate the distance separation to the host device, aslong as the reference signal or reference information is likewisetransferred to the peripheral device as well, for example. For example,the reference signal or reference information may be transferred overanother channel, e.g. WiFi or by a channel used for the transfer of thepairing information.

FIG. 3C shows a schematic illustration 360 of TOF-based authenticationin an industrial system.

One or more (e.g. a plurality of) peripheral devices 310 a, 310 b . . .310 n may desire to establish a transmission channel between theperipheral device and the host device 320.

A (or each) peripheral device 310 may include a security module (S) 309configured to carry out security functions (e.g. encryption and/ordecryption). For example, the information loaded or carried by themodulated light transmit signal may be encrypted by a security module309 of the peripheral device, for example. A (or each) peripheral device310 may further include the wireless communication module 307 and theTOF circuit 101.

The peripheral device 310 may initiate an authentication and/or pairingrequest by transmitting a modulated light transmit signal including thetransmission access request, distance information and/or identifierinformation to the host device 320.

The host device 320 may include a security module 321 configured tocarry out security functions (e.g. encryption and/or decryption), theTOF circuit 211 and the wireless controller module 208, for example.

The host device 320 may be implemented in an industrial device orsystem, e.g. a printer or a multimedia system for example. The hostdevice 320 may use the TOF interface 211 to establish the wireless orwired interface parameters and a secure channel by authenticating usingan integrated security anchor (e.g. provided by the security module321). For example, the control module of the host device 320 may controlthe transmission of communication parameters to the peripheral devicebased on the identifier information and/or the distance information. Inan example, the peripheral device may include a printer cartridge andthe identifier information may include a printer cartridgeidentification number. Counterfeit or cloned printer cartridges may beprevented from communicating with the host device 320 via a transmissionchannel, for example.

The communication parameters to be transmitted to the peripheral device310 may be encrypted by a security module 321 of the host device 320,and transmitted to the peripheral device 310, for example. When (oronce) all (communication) parameters have been established, the wirelessor wired interface (e.g. a wired or wireless transmission channel) maybe used for further communication (e.g. over the communication network).In some examples, the peripheral device may communicate with the hostdevice via the established transmission channel, e.g. the peripheraldevice may communicate with a communication network provided by the hostdevice (e.g. a WiFi network) via the established transmission channel.

Authentication, when carried out over a wired or wireless communicationinterface, may face a risk of a man-in-the-middle attack, where a thirdparty may be placed in between and interfering with the authenticationprocess. The security anchor (e.g. the security module) and the TOFinterface (e.g. the TOF circuit) may provide a significant barrieragainst attacks, cloning and counterfeiting. The TOF techniques may addan additional barrier for an attacker to attack or clone a communicationdevice. Thus, several types of use-cases are covered at the same time.

The various examples described herein relate to using TOF technique forpairing and authenticating electronic devices. Due to TOF techniques, apairing procedure may be carried out over several meters or may belimited to a certain distance, and may provide robustness against harshenvironments. In addition, the pairing process may be done manually,with the Near Field Communication (NFC) technique or other infra-redtechniques. However, manual pairing may require the knowledge of networkidentification numbers, login information, password, and manuallyentering these values into a mobile device, such as a smart phone, iscumbersome, error prone, and time consuming. The TOF pairing approachmay ease this pairing procedure. A subsequent authentication proceduremay establish a secured connection between the paired communicationpartners.

Pairing through NFC may be carried out by bringing together the hostdevice and the peripheral device, and the pairing data may be exchangedthrough NFC. Due to the NFC technique, the distance between both devicesis limited to at most 10 cm. However, in the case of e.g., a WiFi-basedwireless communication network, the host device may often be mounted atplaces that are not easily reachable. These host devices may be mountedon a wall, which may prevent the NFC-based pairing procedure.

Infra-red is capable to pair over a longer distance than NFC, forexample. However, this technique lacks the possibility to measure thedistance without TOF. Furthermore, infra-red without TOF may furtherlack the compensation of background illumination (bright daylight).Therefore, a technique (using infra-red without TOF) may be limited inits applicability.

More details and aspects are mentioned in connection with theembodiments described above or below (e.g. regarding the transceiverdevice, the time of flight circuit, the modulated light transmit signal,the modulated light receive signal, the control module, the informationrelated to a transmission access request, the wireless transmissionchannel, the information for establishing the wireless transmissionchannel, the wireless control module, and the security module). Theembodiment shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C may comprise one or more optionaladditional features corresponding to one or more aspects mentioned inconnection with the proposed concept or one or more embodimentsdescribed above (e.g. FIGS. 1 and 2) or below (e.g. FIGS. 4 to 8).

FIG. 4 shows a schematic illustration of an access control device 420.

The access control device 420 includes a time of flight circuit 411configured to determine distance information, d, of a distance, x,between the access control device 420 and a peripheral device 410, or toreceive a modulated light receive signal 202 including distanceinformation, d, related to a distance between the access control device420 and the peripheral device 410.

The access control device 420 includes a control module 414 configuredto allow establishment of a transmission channel between the accesscontrol device 420 and the peripheral device 410 based on the distanceinformation.

Due to the TOF circuit 411 being configured to receive the distanceinformation based on a TOF signal or to determine the distanceinformation, the allowance or prevention of establishment of atransmission channel may be better controlled, for example.

The distance information, d, may be determined by the TOF circuit 411based on a TOF measurement, or may be received from the peripheraldevice 410, for example. The TOF circuit 411 may be configured toreceive the modulated light receive signal (including the distanceinformation) from the peripheral device 410. Additionally, alternativelyor optionally, the modulated light receive signal may includeinformation related to a transmission access request.

The TOF circuit 411 may be configured to transmit a modulated lighttransmit signal including information for establishing a transmissionchannel between the access control device 420 and the peripheral device410 if the distance information indicates the distance between theaccess control device and the peripheral device lies within a predefineddistance range.

More details and aspects are mentioned in connection with theembodiments described above or below (e.g. regarding the transceiverdevice, the time of flight circuit, the modulated light transmit signal,the modulated light receive signal, the control module, the informationrelated to a transmission access request, the wireless transmissionchannel, the information for establishing the wireless transmissionchannel, the wireless control module, and the security module). Theembodiment shown in FIG. 4 may comprise one or more optional additionalfeatures corresponding to one or more aspects mentioned in connectionwith the proposed concept or one or more embodiments described above(e.g. FIGS. 1 to 3) or below (e.g. FIGS. 5 to 8).

FIG. 5 shows a schematic illustration of a transmitter device 500.

The transmitter device 500 includes a control module 524 configured tocontrol a transmission of a modulated light transmit signal by a time offlight emitter circuit 531. The modulated light transmit signal includesload data to be transmitted.

Due to the use of the TOF emitter circuit for transmitting a modulatedlight transmit signal including load data, load data may be transmittedover longer distances compared to other near field communicationtechnologies. Furthermore, the load data may be transmitted even underharsh lighting conditions, as background illumination may be suppressedusing a TOF Suppression of Background Illumination (SBI) process.

The transmitter device 500 may be implemented in atransceiver/peripheral device and/or in an access control device asdescribed in FIGS. 1 to 4. The transmitter device 500 may be part of atransceiver or may be coupled to a receiver device, for example.

The load data may be digitally encoded in the modulated light transmitsignal, e.g. using modulation techniques, such as phase shift key (PSK)modulation, for example. The load data may include information relatedto a transmission access request and/or information for establishing atransmission channel, for example.

More details and aspects are mentioned in connection with theembodiments described above or below (e.g. regarding the transceiverdevice, the time of flight circuit, the modulated light transmit signal,the modulated light receive signal, the control module, the informationrelated to a transmission access request, the wireless transmissionchannel, the information for establishing the wireless transmissionchannel, the wireless control module, and the security module). Theembodiment shown in FIG. 5 may comprise one or more optional additionalfeatures corresponding to one or more aspects mentioned in connectionwith the proposed concept or one or more embodiments described above(e.g. FIGS. 1 to 4) or below (e.g. FIGS. 6 to 8).

FIG. 6 shows a schematic illustration of a receiver device 600.

The receiver device 600 includes a time of flight module 641 configuredto receive a modulated light receive signal including load data, such asa modulated light receive signal 603. The receiver device 600 includes aprocessing module 625 configured to generate a data signal, ds,including the load data based on the modulated light receive signal.

Due to the use of the TOF module 641 for receiving a modulated lightreceive signal including load data, load data may be received overlonger distances compared to other near field communicationtechnologies. Furthermore, load data may be received even under harshlighting conditions, as background illumination may be suppressed usinga TOF Suppression of Background Illumination (SBI) process.

The receiver device 600 may be implemented in a transceiver or coupledto a transmitter device (e.g. 500), which may be implemented in atransceiver/peripheral device and/or in an access control device asdescribed in FIGS. 1 to 4.

The load data received in the modulated light receive signal may bedigitally encoded in the modulated light transmit signal, e.g. usingmodulation techniques, such as phase shift key (PSK) modulation. Theload data may include information related to a transmission accessrequest and/or information for establishing a transmission channel, forexample.

The processing module 625 may include a decoder circuit or module (e.g.a PSK decoder) configured to decode the load data in the modulatedreceive signal. The data signal which may include the load datainformation may include the one or more communication parameters forconfiguring a wireless communication module coupled to the receiverdevice, for example.

The processing module 625 may further be configured to determinedistance information of a distance between the receiver device and anaccess control device based on the modulated light receive signal and areference modulation light receive signal received by the receiverdevice 600.

The reference modulation light receive signal 603 may be received froman external light source, such as an external light source 610. In someexamples, the external light source may be transmitted by a light sourceor a TOF emitter circuit controlled by the access control device. Insome examples, the external light source may be a light source arrangedin proximity to the access control device. In some examples, theexternal light source may be arranged so that a light signal (e.g. thereference modulation light receive signal) may be transmitted by theexternal light source and received by the receiver device 600 via a(direct or unblocked) transmission path. In some examples, the externallight source may optionally or additionally be arranged so that thelight signal may be transmitted by the external light source to theaccess control device via a (direct or unblocked) transmission path andfurther transmitted to the receiver device via a (direct or unblocked)transmission path.

More details and aspects are mentioned in connection with theembodiments described above or below (e.g. regarding the transceiverdevice, the time of flight circuit, the modulated light transmit signal,the modulated light receive signal, the control module, the informationrelated to a transmission access request, the wireless transmissionchannel, the information for establishing the wireless transmissionchannel, the wireless control module, and the security module). Theembodiment shown in FIG. 6 may comprise one or more optional additionalfeatures corresponding to one or more aspects mentioned in connectionwith the proposed concept or one or more embodiments described above(e.g. FIGS. 1 to 5) or below (e.g. FIGS. 7 to 8).

FIG. 7 shows a flow chart of a method 700 for establishing a wirelesstransmission channel.

The method 700 includes controlling 710 a transmission of a modulatedlight transmit signal including information related to a transmissionaccess request by a time of flight circuit to an access control device.

The method 700 includes emitting 720 the modulated light transmit signalby the time of flight circuit.

The method 700 includes receiving 730 by the time of flight circuit amodulated light receive signal comprising information for establishingthe wireless transmission channel from the access control device.

The method 700 includes controlling 740 an establishment of a wirelesstransmission channel based on the modulated light receive signal.

Due to the time of flight (TOF) modulated light transmit signal beingused for a transmission access request and the TOF modulated lightreceive signal being used for establishing a wireless transmissionchannel, pairing and authentication for establishing a wirelesstransmission channel may be improved. For example, access requests andpairing may be carried out over longer distances (in comparison to shortrange pairing methods such as near field communication NFC pairing).Furthermore, errors associated with the manual pairing of devices may bereduced or avoided, for example.

More details and aspects are mentioned in connection with theembodiments described above or below (e.g. regarding the transceiverdevice, the time of flight circuit, the modulated light transmit signal,the modulated light receive signal, the control module, the informationrelated to a transmission access request, the wireless transmissionchannel, the information for establishing the wireless transmissionchannel, the wireless control module, and the security module). Theembodiment shown in FIG. 7 may comprise one or more optional additionalfeatures corresponding to one or more aspects mentioned in connectionwith the proposed concept or one or more embodiments described above(e.g. FIGS. 1 to 6) or below (e.g. FIG. 8).

FIG. 8 shows a flow chart of a method 800 for establishing atransmission channel.

The method 800 includes receiving 810, by a time of flight circuit of aperipheral device, a modulated light receive signal comprisinginformation related to a transmission access request by a time of flightcircuit.

The method 800 further includes controlling 820, by a control module, atransmission of a modulated light transmit signal by the time of flightcircuit, wherein the modulated light transmit signal includesinformation for establishing a transmission channel between an accesscontrol device and the peripheral device.

Due to receiving the time of flight (TOF) modulated light receive signalcarrying a transmission access request and the TOF modulated lighttransmit signal for carrying information for establishing a wirelesstransmission channel, pairing and authentication for establishing awireless transmission channel may be improved. For example, accessrequests and pairing may be carried out over longer distances (incomparison to short range pairing methods such as near fieldcommunication NFC pairing). Furthermore, errors associated with themanual pairing of devices may be reduced or avoided, for example.

More details and aspects are mentioned in connection with theembodiments described above or below (e.g. regarding the transceiverdevice, the time of flight circuit, the modulated light transmit signal,the modulated light receive signal, the control module, the informationrelated to a transmission access request, the wireless transmissionchannel, the information for establishing the wireless transmissionchannel, the wireless control module, and the security module). Theembodiment shown in FIG. 8 may comprise one or more optional additionalfeatures corresponding to one or more aspects mentioned in connectionwith the proposed concept or one or more embodiments described above(e.g. FIGS. 1 to 7) or below.

In some examples, a method for establishing a transmission channelincludes determining, by a time of flight circuit, distance informationof a distance between an access control device and a peripheral device,or receiving a modulated light receive signal including distanceinformation related to a distance between the access control device andthe peripheral device. The method further includes allowing, by acontrol module, establishment of a transmission channel between theaccess control device and the peripheral device based on the distanceinformation.

In some examples, a method for transmitting a signal includes modulatinga modulated light transmit signal with load data to be transmitted, andcontrolling, by a control module, a transmission of the modulated lighttransmit signal by a time of flight emitter circuit.

In some examples, a method for receiving a signal comprises receiving amodulated light receive signal including load data and generating a datasignal including the load data based on the modulated light receivesignal.

More details and aspects are mentioned in connection with theembodiments described above or below (e.g. regarding the transceiverdevice, the time of flight circuit, the modulated light transmit signal,the modulated light receive signal, the control module, the informationrelated to a transmission access request, the wireless transmissionchannel, the information for establishing the wireless transmissionchannel, the wireless control module, and the security module). Theexamples may comprise one or more optional additional featurescorresponding to one or more aspects mentioned in connection with theproposed concept or one or more embodiments described above (e.g. FIGS.1 to 8) or below.

Various embodiments relate to a time of flight (TOF) based system thatperforms pairing and authentication for information security.

Example embodiments may further provide a computer program having aprogram code for performing one of the above methods, when the computerprogram is executed on a computer or processor. A person of skill in theart would readily recognize that acts of various above-described methodsmay be performed by programmed computers. Herein, some exampleembodiments are also intended to cover program storage devices, e.g.,digital data storage media, which are machine or computer readable andencode machine-executable or computer-executable programs ofinstructions, wherein the instructions perform some or all of the actsof the above-described methods. The program storage devices may be,e.g., digital memories, magnetic storage media such as magnetic disksand magnetic tapes, hard drives, or optically readable digital datastorage media. Further example embodiments are also intended to covercomputers programmed to perform the acts of the above-described methodsor (field) programmable logic arrays ((F)PLAs) or (field) programmablegate arrays ((F)PGAs), programmed to perform the acts of theabove-described methods.

The description and drawings merely illustrate the principles of thedisclosure. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the artwill be able to devise various arrangements that, although notexplicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of thedisclosure and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore,all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to beonly for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding theprinciples of the disclosure and the concepts contributed by theinventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as beingwithout limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions.Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, andembodiments of the disclosure, as well as specific examples thereof, areintended to encompass equivalents thereof.

Functional blocks denoted as “means for . . . ” (performing a certainfunction) shall be understood as functional blocks comprising circuitrythat is configured to perform a certain function, respectively. Hence, a“means for s.th.” may as well be understood as a “means configured to orsuited for s.th.”. A means configured to perform a certain functiondoes, hence, not imply that such means necessarily is performing thefunction (at a given time instant).

Functions of various elements shown in the figures, including anyfunctional blocks labeled as “means”, “means for providing a sensorsignal”, “means for generating a transmit signal.”, etc., may beprovided through the use of dedicated hardware, such as “a signalprovider”, “a signal processing unit”, “a processor”, “a controller”,etc. as well as hardware capable of executing software in associationwith appropriate software. Moreover, any entity described herein as“means”, may correspond to or be implemented as “one or more modules”,“one or more devices”, “one or more units”, etc. When provided by aprocessor, the functions may be provided by a single dedicatedprocessor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individualprocessors, some of which may be shared. Moreover, explicit use of theterm “processor” or “controller” should not be construed to referexclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and mayimplicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP)hardware, network processor, application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), read only memory (ROM) forstoring software, random access memory (RAM), and non-volatile storage.Other hardware, conventional and/or custom, may also be included.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any blockdiagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitryembodying the principles of the disclosure. Similarly, it will beappreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transitiondiagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes whichmay be substantially represented in computer readable medium and soexecuted by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer orprocessor is explicitly shown.

Furthermore, the following claims are hereby incorporated into theDetailed Description, where each claim may stand on its own as aseparate embodiment. While each claim may stand on its own as a separateembodiment, it is to be noted that—although a dependent claim may referin the claims to a specific combination with one or more otherclaims—other embodiments may also include a combination of the dependentclaim with the subject matter of each other dependent or independentclaim. Such combinations are proposed herein unless it is stated that aspecific combination is not intended. Furthermore, it is intended toinclude also features of a claim to any other independent claim even ifthis claim is not directly made dependent to the independent claim.

It is further to be noted that methods disclosed in the specification orin the claims may be implemented by a device having means for performingeach of the respective acts of these methods.

Further, it is to be understood that the disclosure of multiple acts orfunctions disclosed in the specification or claims may not be construedas to be within the specific order. Therefore, the disclosure ofmultiple acts or functions will not limit these to a particular orderunless such acts or functions are not interchangeable for technicalreasons. Furthermore, in some embodiments a single act may include ormay be broken into multiple sub acts. Such sub acts may be included andpart of the disclosure of this single act unless explicitly excluded.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A transceiver device, comprising: a time offlight circuit configured to emit a modulated light transmit signal andto receive a modulated light receive signal; a controller configured tocontrol a transmission of a modulated light transmit signal by the timeof flight circuit to an access control device, wherein the modulatedlight transmit signal comprises information related to a transmissionaccess request, wherein the controller is further configured to controlan establishment of a wireless transmission channel based on a modulatedlight receive signal received by the time of flight circuit from theaccess control device, wherein the modulated light receive signalcomprises information for establishing the wireless transmissionchannel, wherein the time of flight circuit is configured to demodulatethe modulated light receive signal comprising the information based on aphoton mixing of the modulated light receive signal and an externalreference signal received by the time of flight circuit; and wherein thecontroller is further configured to perform an authentication procedurewith the access control device using signaling via the modulated lighttransmit signal and the modulated light receive signal beforeestablishing the wireless transmission channel, and establish thewireless transmission channel on a condition that the authenticationprocedure is carried out successfully via the modulated light transmitsignal and the modulated light receive signal.
 2. The transceiver deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the modulated light receive signalcomprises at least one communication parameter for a pairing orauthentication between the transceiver device and the access controldevice, wherein the controller is configured to establish thetransmission channel between the transceiver device and the accesscontrol device based on the at least one communication parameter.
 3. Thetransceiver device according to claim 2, further comprising a wirelessadapter, wherein the controller is configured to configure the wirelessadapter for the transmission of data via the wireless transmissionchannel, based on the information for establishing the wirelesstransmission channel.
 4. The transceiver device according to claim 1,wherein the information for establishing the wireless transmissionchannel comprises at least one of a network identification number,network configuration information, a network login identifier and anetwork speed.
 5. The transceiver device according to claim 1, furthercomprising a security processor configured to encrypt or decrypt theinformation comprised in the modulated light transmit signal or themodulated light receive signal.
 6. The transceiver device according toclaim 1, wherein the time of flight circuit is configured to determinedistance information related to a distance between the transceiverdevice and the access control device, and to transmit the distanceinformation to the access control device.
 7. The transceiver deviceaccording to claim 6, wherein the transceiver device is configured toselect a communications protocol to be used for the wirelesstransmission based on the distance information.
 8. An access controldevice comprising: a time of flight circuit configured to receive amodulated light receive signal from a peripheral device and transmit amodulated light transmit signal to the peripheral device, wherein themodulated light receive signal comprises information related to atransmission access request; and a controller configured to control atransmission of a modulated light transmit signal by the time of flightcircuit, wherein the modulated light transmit signal comprisesinformation for establishing a wireless transmission channel between theaccess control device and the peripheral device, wherein the time offlight circuit is configured to demodulate the modulated light receivesignal comprising the information based on a photon mixing of themodulated light receive signal and an external reference signal receivedby the time of flight circuit, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to perform an authentication procedure with the peripheraldevice using signaling via the modulated light transmit signal and themodulated light receive signal before establishing the wirelesstransmission channel, and establish the wireless transmission channel ona condition that the authentication procedure is carried outsuccessfully via the modulated light transmit signal and the modulatedlight receive signal.
 9. The access control device according to claim 8,wherein the time of flight circuit is configured to determine distanceinformation related to a distance between the access control device andthe peripheral device.
 10. The access control device according to claim8, wherein the modulated light receive signal comprises distanceinformation related to a distance between the access control device andthe peripheral device.
 11. The access control device according to claim10, wherein the controller is configured to control the time of flightcircuit to transmit the modulated light transmit signal if the distanceinformation indicates that the distance between the access controldevice and the peripheral device lies within a predefined distancerange.
 12. The access control device according to claim 8, wherein themodulated light receive signal comprises identifier information relatedto the peripheral device, and wherein the controller is configured tocontrol the time of flight circuit to transmit the modulated lighttransmit signal based on the identifier information related to theperipheral device.
 13. The access control device according to claim 8,wherein the access control device comprises a wireless adapter fortransmitting or receiving wireless signals through a wirelesstransmission channel to be established.
 14. The access control deviceaccording to claim 8, wherein the access control device comprises asecurity processor configured to encrypt or a decrypt the informationcomprised in the modulated light transmit signal or the modulated lightreceive signal.
 15. The access control device according to claim 8,wherein the access control device is implemented in at least one of abase station, a time of flight camera, a modem, a router, a multimediastation, and a printer.
 16. A receiver device, comprising: a time offlight circuit configured to receive a modulated light receive signalcomprising load data from an access control device, the modulated lightreceive signal including information for establishing a radio frequencycommunication channel; and a processor configured to generate a datasignal based on the modulated light receive signal and establish theradio frequency communication channel to the access control device basedon the information received via the modulated light receive signal,wherein the processor is further configured to perform an authenticationprocedure with the access control device using signaling via a modulatedlight transmit signal and the modulated light receive signal beforeestablishing the radio frequency communication channel, and establishthe radio frequency communication channel on a condition that theauthentication procedure is carried out successfully via the modulatedlight transmit signal and the modulated light receive signal, whereinthe processor is configured to determine distance information of adistance between the receiver device and the access control device basedon the modulated light receive signal and a reference modulation lightreceive signal received by the receiver device.
 17. The receiver deviceaccording to claim 16, wherein the reference modulation light receivesignal is received from an external light source.